GOP Poll Watcher: Unable to Challenge Ballots That Ultimately Went for Democrats

Poll workers board up windows so ballot challengers can't see into the ballot counting area at the TCF Center where ballots are being counted in downtown Detroit, Mich., on Nov. 4, 2020. (Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images)

A Michigan GOP poll challenger claimed she was not able to challenge ballots on Election Day at the TCF Center in Detroit, a vote-tabulation center that has been flagged for numerous alleged violations by observers and witnesses.

Kristina Karamo, the poll watcher, told Michigan State lawmakers on Tuesday that she saw a poll supervisor at the TCF Center illegally give contested votes to Democratic candidates, including Joe Biden.

Karamo said that early in the morning on Nov. 4, as she stood at an adjudication table, she allegedly saw a ballot that had a “straight-party ticket for both the Democrat and the Republican.” Karamo then asserted that the poll worker remarked that she “would give it to the Democrats.”

“That is illegal,” Karamo, who had been a 2018 Republican candidate for County Commissioner District 10, told lawmakers, adding that she challenged the poll worker’s decision to tabulate the vote for Democratic candidates.

Karamo claimed that she spoke to several election tabulations officials in the TCF Center, including a man who was in charge of the area’s entire absentee ballot-counting process.

The man, she said, then asked the poll worker: “What do you think?” Karamo said she argued that it’s not a matter of feelings or emotions—but rather, that it’s illegal to tabulate the ballot in such a manner.

“Why not give it to the Republicans instead of the Democrats?” Karamo recalled telling the election worker. Then, she said, he became enraged and “began screaming at me” before telling the poll worker to “push the ballot through,” presumably for Democratic candidates.

In another instance, Karamo said the same poll worker saw a ballot that was checked for both Biden and the Green Party candidate, Howie Hawkins.

“She gave the vote to Joe Biden,” the GOP poll watcher told the lawmakers.

“We saw a lot of irregular things; this is not an anomaly,” Karamo said. “Just because all of us have different accounts of what we saw, that doesn’t make them invalid.”

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has said she’s seen no outstanding evidence of irregularities or voter fraud that would overturn the state’s election results. Benson and other election officials moved to certify the state’s results earlier this month.

Another poll watcher at the TCF Center, who identified herself as Patty McMurray, told lawmakers that she saw “Xerox copies” of military ballots that all were marked for Biden.

A spokesperson for Michigan’s Secretary of State’s office, in a statement to Epoch Times, responded to the allegations in the Michigan hearing.

“No actual evidence of any wrongdoing or fraud was presented, despite repeated questions requesting such evidence from lawmakers,“ the spokesperson said on Wednesday. ”Instead we saw a regurgitation of vague accusations based on lack of knowledge of election procedure and widely debunked conspiracy theories. We hope the state senate will allow future testimony illustrating the facts underlying this election.”